fortworthhorn

Thread bump.  Atlanta's streetcar is about to go in the trash: http://politics.blog...-the-long-view/

I think its important to note that a streetcar system without proper planning and dedicated ROW is not the savior to central city transit.  It was highlighted during the T's most recent Master Plan efforts by it's consultants and from the public.

Atlanta is a prime example of how you can permanently damage multi-modal transit in an urban area.  They might never get another chance, especially with the current political climate.  It's important to get it right here in FW whether it is streetcar, light rail, or BRT.

I think BRT is the most likely and feasible from a dollars standpoint.  The execution from planning, marketing, and customer service will be critical.  Look at the battle Dallas is having right now with their D2 alignment.  You have a bunch of people trying to do it right IMO by going underground.  They recognize what will happen if you are wrong.

 

 

Yes, the parking issue has become less of a pain but they still need more garage space as the area grows. Hopefully they will focus on creating easier parking with anything they do further.

I would argue we need WAY less of this.  More transit and less wasted concrete.  

 

 

As much as I agree, I think more transit options for everyday commuters are only a dream at this time.

 

Sure.  Obviously it is going to be difficult.  I think its important for these developers who are building in these high demand areas to stress to the City how important transit is.  By building huge above ground parking structures, and wasting valuable residential/commercial space, we are compounding the problem.  Not all development is good development.

Yes, the parking issue has become less of a pain but they still need more garage space as the area grows. Hopefully they will focus on creating easier parking with anything they do further.

I would argue we need WAY less of this.  More transit and less wasted concrete.  

Brandon Formby at the DMN is reporting some good news here:

http://transportatio...rain-line.html/

Highlights:

- Over 50% increase in planned trips

- Later trips on Friday & Saturday

Not Mentioned:

- Sunday service

Bluestem Park, two hours from the city center, is Fort Worth's newest park that includes 14 acres of restored blackland prairie in Alliance Town Center:

 

http://www.star-tele...le76089182.html

Fixed your post

Here's what that'll look like, http://www.vlkarchit...use/200-w-berry

I am not sure it is going to have all that green space in the back.  I think the original intention was to do that, but not sure if the final product will have it.  I hope I am wrong as it would be awesome to have food trucks back there.

Edit: BTW - "The design of the building and site encourages pedestrian traffic, walkability and a vibrant, lively atmosphere between the nearby TCU campus and proposed location of a new passenger train station."

I think people need to stop pitching that train station.  IF that ever happens, we are talking 10-20 years down the road.

Would you be happier with surface lots?

I would be happy with a transit solution that didn't require that much "parking."  But..politics, money, and culture talks.

 

At all the meetings I went to, rebranding was brought up.  I am guessing it is still under serious consideration.  Since Fort Worth is not the sole focus of the T, I am guessing it will always incorporate something with Tarrant or North Texas.  

 

I went to a couple of those same meetings and that's what I got out of it, as well. 

Something like DART... we'd have a long way to go for that, though. 

 

Goes without saying, unless the T can backup a rebrand with great service, it is not going to matter.

At least I got my laugh for the day:

Place 1 Councilwoman Carol Wollin said TEX Rail is a poor use of transportation funds that won’t benefit Colleyville residents.

“I wish they would put more of it toward the highways and roads,” she said. “Our residents, they like to drive.”

What happens if one of those bar owners decides to be the really lively, boisterous bar?  The type of place that attracts guys who like to fight.  Those guys get thrown out of the bars and fight on the sidewalks. 

 

Then, the more particular restaurant and bar patrons start feeling the neighborhood is unsafe and the higher end restaurants and bars suffer.  Slowly the bars (all of whom are already open at that point) decide that they can only survive if they cater to the same, more boisterous, less particular, crowd and the neighborhood, in a few years, pivots to be a more down and dirty bar district. 

 

Why does this matter?  It repels both locals and visitors who won't tolerate places that feel unsafe at all.  It would really be a huge step back for the entire Cultural District and West 7th Street corridor.

 

That won't happen.  There is not a place to park and no transit solution so they can't get there. 

I thought this deserved its own thread.  I went to the T's meeting yesterday where they presented their updated plan.  This was helped by the consultants Nelson/Nygaard.  The final plan will be unveiled in January 2016.

Here are my notes.  I apologize for any inaccuracies as there was a lot of info thrown out.  

1)  This plan has not been presented to Fort Worth City Council yet.

2)  Real time bus info will be available within this year.  It also sounded like there would be new system maps.  I heard the date of May 2016 thrown out, but I am not entirely sure if it relates to this.

3)  They want to expand service to a broader area of Tarrant County.

4)  They want premium services in high demand areas.  Premium could be something like the Spur.

5)  They want a frequent service network (early morning/late night) to the biggest destinations.  Frequent service would be every 10-15 minutes at peak times and 15-30 minutes the rest of the day.  18 hours of service.  More weekend service.

6)  They want to reach beyond 820.

7)  Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) - build on the Spur.

8)  Better passenger facilities.

9)  Improving first mile/last mile connections (Uber/Lyft).

10)  Rebranding of the T - This would be one of my big takeaways.  The T image is poor and it sounds like there will be a serious effort to do a rebrand of some sort.

There was talk of streetcars and light rail.  Obviously that is what a lot of us would like.  Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on which side of the issue you are on, that is most likely not going to happen because of the political climate.  I also would not expect the Southwest portion of TexRail to be built anytime soon.  I am sure they will put up documents to download on the website soon that will contain all the specifics along with maps showing the proposed routes that would have their frequencies increased.  From what I saw on the maps there, it looked like all the big transit corridors were taken care of.  

 

$75 Million added to Texas Central Railroad by Texas investors:

 

Or point 0075 percent of $10B estimated start up cost. Presumably, their investments are refundable.

 

Added to what amount that has been raised?

 

Mayor Price, without any guarantees that HSR will come to Fort Worth by way of TCR,  is a more vocal cheerleader of TCR than the Mayor of Dallas and which Dallas is being guaranteed a HSR station.

 

Price comes across as a nice lady, but increasingly demonstrates that she is a poor negotiator for Fort Worth interests inside and outside of the city. And for the Star-Telegram, it has long regarded itself and has had aspirations to be a "NORTH TEXAS/fort worth" newspaper.

 

OMG, how I miss Joel Burns.

 

I suspect that the College Station stop was added to appease those rural areas that are likely to be affected.  I could be wrong there though.

It might come down to a Arlington vs Fort Worth battle for an additional stop if it gets that far.  

I do wish Bass was as interested in public transportation as he is in ice cream.  That would be something that really moved the ball.

I actually think that Mayor Price has done a decent job with what she can do.

Would I like some grand vision for multi-modal transportation including rail?  Of course.

But she is fighting the establishment, dollars and a difficult political climate for transportation funding.

Of course it did.  MOAR ROADS is all he really gets.

 

Transit, not so much.

I am glad I started this thread and not you.

I know how much he likes you.  

Hey there.

First time poster.

I went to the high speed rail meeting last night at the ITC.

It was interesting talking to a few of the people there.

Betsy Price spoke (prepared statement).

- must push rail

- high speed rail is a game changer

- can't build enough highways

- must be visionary

- she is in favor of the I-30 route

Councilman Espino also spoke and said the same things basically ("high speed rail is the future")

Arlington really wants in the game bad and they had a councilwoman there speak.

Of note she mentioned three stops (Dallas, FW, Arlington) while Sal and Betsy did not mention Arlington.

I know it doesn't really help out inter-city transportation issues but I was glad she came out and spoke in favor of it on the record.

One final note is that someone from Tarrant County basically said FW is fubar unless the Dallas stop is Union (Houston to Dallas leg)

If the Dallas stop is not downtown then there is no way to directly connect FW was his point.